The notes appended to the sacred text in this edition of the New Testament, cannot, perhaps, claim a higher rank than that of notes on the English version; for although the editors have endeavored to ascertain the true meaning of the sacred record, by a careful study of the original, with a diligent use of the best aids furnished by the researches of modern scholars, both European and American, still the meaning when ascertained, is connected, in the notes, with the language of the common English version, as the design has been to prepare a convenient manual for the use of common Christians in the ordinary walks of life.

The notes themselves, as their designation in the title-page imports, are intended to explain the text in the most concise and simple manner. The work is not meant to supersede the use of the excellent commentaries, more full and extended, which are now in circulation among the readers of the English version of the Scriptures, but to provide one in addition to them, which, being more condensed in its form, is adapted to purposes for which the others were not designed.

In the execution of the work, the editors have endeavored--though they are aware that it is an attempt not always successful, even when honestly made--to divest themselves of theological theories, and to develop fully and freely the import of each portion of the divine word in its order, whatever may be its bearing upon religious systems, or upon the various controversies of the day.